Mike Tyson found himself in a bit of a mess on Thursday. The boxing great was on a JetBlue flight when another passenger started agitating Tyson. According to witness reports the interaction between the two started amicably with Tyson agreeing to take a picture with the ‘fan’.
Mike Tyson’s punching victim chose to not settle the incident with the court. However, the victim has reportedly hired a lawyer to assist in further investigation.
Subsequently the man started goofing off – whispering into Tyson’s ear and reportedly throwing a water bottle at the boxing great. The taunts apparently irritated Tyson enough that he opted to get into an altercation. Next thing the witness noticed was the heavyweight champ teeing off on the belligerent passenger.
According to TMZ – Melvin Townsend, III, is the victim in the Tyson assault case. And this isn’t his first encounter with cops, by any means. He’s been convicted of fraud, grand theft, burglary, possession of controlled substances and trafficking in stolen property.
Previously, Townsend has stated that he wasn’t keen on pressing charges and chose to ignore the incident. However, according to TMZ, Townsend has hired a lawyer. His attorney Matt Morgan said that Townsend was just a bit too excited to meet Mike Tyson and once denied the opportunity, Townsend threw a water bottle.
“Our client is a big Mike Tyson fan. When Mike Tyson boarded the plane, he became overly excited. At first, their interaction was cordial. At a certain point, Mr Tyson clearly became agitated by an overly excited fan and began to strike him in an excessive manner. This situation could have been avoided simply by contacting the flight attendant. Our client denies throwing a water bottle prior to being struck by Mr Tyson.” Morgan told TMZ.
Matt Morgan also said that Mike Tyson should have a bigger patient as any other professional fighter should.
“To state the obvious, as one of the greatest fighters of all time, Mr Tyson should have exercised greater restraint before using his hands on an overly excited fan.” Morgan added.
The witnesses on the airplane have given statements l regarding the incident from their point of view. They claimed that Tyson was pretty amicable towards the passengers including Townsend at first. To the point that he was willing to take a selfie with some other passengers. But, Townsend wouldn’t stop harassing him and eventually made Tyson snap.